Brazil's ex-president Lula detained in anti-graft bust

Friday, March 04, 2016 - 01:13

Brazil's federal police detain former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for questioning in an anti-corruption probe involving the state owned oil company that has ensnared several top executives and officials. Mana Rabiee reports.

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The scene outside former president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva home in Sao Paulo was tense.
Police say Lula, is being questioned over a money laundering operation involving Brazil's state owned oil company, Petrobras.
They say there's evidence showing Lula was one of the main beneficiaries of the kick-back scheme, involving cash and luxury real estate.
They also say the operation financed the campaigns and expenses of his ruling Workers Party.
His police detention follows Brazilian media reports that a senator from the ruling party, who was arrested in November, has allegedly tied Lula to the Petrobras scandal in a 400-page plea bargain made with prosecutors.
The senator also implicated current president, Dilma Rousseff, in the scandal.
She has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
Lula ran Brazil from 2003 to 2010, when prosecutors allege most of the graft took place.
And while other lawmakers and business executives have been ensnared in the investigationl, Lula's detention is the most dramatic development so far.

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